The present invention relates to a contamination monitoring system. In particular, the present invention relates to a contamination monitoring system for monitoring contamination levels of dissolved ions in liquids. Contamination monitoring has wide applications in the areas of process control and quality control.
An example of where a contamination monitoring system is applicable is in the electronics industry, in particular cleaning of printed circuit boards. Printed circuit boards are typically cleaned by immersing them in a cleaning solution to remove any unwanted matter. The unwanted matter is typically dissolved into the cleaning solution and consequently, the cleaning solution ultimately becomes contaminated. If the contamination level of the cleaning solution is not monitored, then contaminants from one batch of printed circuit boards could be transferred to the next batch of printed circuit boards to be cleaned. Further, relatively uncontaminated cleaning liquids could be discarded unnecessarily, representing a financial loss. Therefore, there is a need for a system which provides monitoring of contamination levels in liquids for such application.